A MATCH did take place last night, though it might have been hard to believe with the events after the final whistle and the amazing outburst from Rafa Benitez.

The Chelsea’s manager’s future is up in the air. But one fact is for certain – his club are through to the sixth round of the FA Cup after a straightforward victory at The Riverside and even a goal from Fernando Torres.

Next stop for the holders? Old Trafford on Sunday week as they visit Manchester United. But it is impossible to say if Benitez will be the man still in charge by then.

How owner Roman Abramovich reacts to this outburst only time will tell. But on the pitch, the unity that the man with the title he does not like – interim manager – said was there, well it was.

Chelsea pulled together after reports of a bust-up between the man in charge and the players. No shock this night. And for Torres, he would probably take a goal whatever way it came. It was not quite in off his backside, but the shoulder will do for the Spaniard.

The misfiring £50million striker deflected Ramires’ 51st-minute shot into the net, scoring for just the second time in his last 16 matches. Some forwards may have been embarrassed to claim it, but when you’re on £170,000 a week you tend to justify it in any way you can.

Torres’ bizarre goal was the first of Chelsea’s two strikes against Tony Mowbray’s battling Boro which sent Benitez’s side through. Chelsea were poor in the first half, but penetrative after the break, especially after Eden Hazard’s introduction off the bench as the Belgian gave them a much-needed injection of pace.

Torres scores the first goal thanks to Ramires' deflection

Chelsea’s performance, especially in a moribund first 45 minutes, will not have Sir Alex Ferguson’s title leaders losing sleep, but you can expect a bristling clash in their last eight tie.

Dutch teenager Nathan Ake was selected for his first ever start in a Blues shirt by Benitez, his presence in the line-up so unexpected the 18-year-old midfielder didn’t even make the Boro programme. Benitez said: “Boro gave us a really good test, but we came through it and I’m pleased with the performance. We had to change a few players here and there, but the ones who came in did very well and we deserve to be in the next round.

“You can decide who scored the first goal. We knew we had to keep the balance of the team, but when you have two games in three days we had to do everything we could just to get through this tie, which was always going to be tough.”

If anything Boro created the better chances before the break as Scott McDonald went close with a header from Nicky Bailey’s cross and Mustapha Carayol thumped a fierce drive which stung Petr Cech’s hands, with John Terry clearing the danger.

Benitez would have been looking for a marked improvement in the second half as England Under-21 international keeper Jason Steele had not been forced to make a single save of note in the opening 45 minutes.

Victor Moses wheels away to celebrate and end Middlesbrough's FA Cup run

That soon changed as Chelsea took the lead through a wickedly deflected Torres goal. Oscar made headway on the right and his cross picked out Yossi Benayoun, making his first Blues appearance since 2011. Benayoun tried to trick his way past his marker, but failed and instead opted to tee up the ball into Ramires’ path, whose curling effort hit Torres on the shoulder and looped into the net, beyond Steele.

Despite trying to get out of the way, Torres immediately claimed the goal as his – a 16th of the season – which was hardly surprising bearing in mind his current goal drought. Torres then beat the offside trap and fired a rising shot which looked destined for the top corner only for Steele to make an outstanding one-handed save.

Ramires threaded a lovely through ball to substitute Hazard, whose own curling shot flew inches past the upright. But with Chelsea’s next attack the Blues clinched the tie as Hazard, who had injected a sense of urgency to their play, sliced through the Boro defence via a neat one-two with Oscar.

Hazard then poked the ball through to Moses for a close-range finish, a stunningly simple goal which broke Boro hearts.

Mowbray said: “My players have done all they could, but they are up against the current European champions.”

Oscar slammed a low drive just past Steele’s post as Chelsea briefly threatened to add to their tally – they won 5-0 on their last visit to the Riverside in 2008 – before Boro rallied in the closing stages.

Substitutes Merouane Zemmama and Ishmael Miller both narrowly missed the target, but Chelsea made it through to the last eight on a night which failed to ignite. Until Rafa Benitez spoke, that is.